The Atlanta Tech Village and the Atlanta Braves recently formed a unique partnership to bring together and support ATL’s growing tech and startup community.
“This collaboration is the first of it’s kind between an Atlanta sports team and our thriving tech ecosystem,” Karen Houghton, Atlanta Tech Village’s Director, says. “Our hope is that our partnership with the Braves will be a community driver that will continue to connect not only our city’s startups, but also create further connections between startups and large, classic Atlanta brands like the Braves in a really fun and tangible way!”
The partnership will drive local entrepreneurial minds to brainstorm new ways to improve the Braves’ digital fan experience, especially now that the team is getting a fancy new stadium — SunTrust Park. One of the first initiatives will be the Braves App challenge, a weekend-long hackathon held at the Village from August 12-14, 2016. (Sign up here!) Winners will receive a $5K prize along with a VIP @Braves fan experience.
“We are not looking for specific tech ideas, the most important piece is finding ideas that enhance our fan experience,” says Greg Mize, the Director of Digital Marketing at the Braves. “We hope to get out of this collaboration are two simple concepts: inspiration and ideas. Inspiration to embody the entrepreneurial traits of the Villagers — nimble, innovative, fearless and ideas that deliver solutions to enhance our digital fan experience.”
The partnership will also host programs like Startup Night Out, August 31, a night when the startup community comes together at a Braves game, and Reverse Pitch at the Village, an opportunity for startups to pitch ideas directly to the Braves.
“We want this collaboration to be inclusive of the entire Atlanta ecosystem, not just the Village,” says Houghton. “When talking about the larger goal of positioning Atlanta as a Top 5 tech hub in the US, a win for any of us becomes a win for all of us. Unity in building our tech community is essential and our collaboration with the Braves not only introduces some creative ways to bring us together, it also provides a very large platform for raising awareness of our footprint in Atlanta. We need talent to come to Atlanta, stay in Atlanta, and more entrepreneurs to build more successful businesses. Startups directly impact our economy and job creation or Atlanta. Our collaboration with the Braves can only help contribute to all of those things.”
We wholeheartedly agree.
Photo Credit: Tami McQueen, Director of Marketing, Salesloft
